Indian content conglomerate Zee Entertainment Enterprises has restarted talks with Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL) to acquire its radio and television business.
Owned by billionaire Anil Ambani, RBNL operates 92.7 Big FM across 45 stations in the country.
It started operations in 2006 and claims to reach 1200 towns and 42 million listeners.
The network recently added 14 more frequencies in Phase III FM auctions last year.
It was one of the first radio players in the country to change its format from CHR to retro, three years ago.
Zee is a subsidiary of the Essel Group and its founder is Subhash Chandra.
The company has 35 channels serving Indian content across India and 169 countries and forayed into radio space recently by acquiring the UAE’s oldest private FM station, Hum 106.2 FM.
RBNL and Zee have been in talks since the beginning of the year but they hit a roadblock in August when Zee Managing Director Punit Goenka said that his company was no longer interested in the deal owing to regulatory hurdle of 49% foreign investment cap in radio business.
The size of the deal was being pegged at anyhwere between $225 million (Rs 15 billion) to $300 million (Rs 20 billion).
As per current guidelines, FM operators who migrated to Phase III cannot offload more than 49% stake till March 2017.
However, there is a possibility that Zee, which was initially looking at acquiring 49% stake in Big FM, may up its stake to 100% post lock-in period.
Its entry into radio segment in India will allow it to draw synergies with its other media businesses.